Container handling apparatus



Oct. 26, 1943. H. EIGANTZER 2,332,791

CONTAINER HANDLING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1iii-[hm INVENTOR flbzuarzz auge? BY wa k ATTORNEY Oct. 26, 1943. H. aGANTZER 2,332,791

CONTAINER HANDLING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m\ Elk BY K? 1 z ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 26, 1943 T OFFICE 2,332,791 CONTAINERHANDLING PPARATUS Howard E. Gantzer, Kenmore,

Y., assignor to Consolidated Packaging Machinery Corporation, Buffalo,N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 26, 1941, Serial No.404,807

' 6 Claims. (01. 198-34) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in feeding mechanisms and particularly seeks to provide anovel timing wheel usable in conjunction with the feed-in conveyor of acontainer capping machine or the like.

Normally, capping machines include a rotary turret provided with aplurality of capping chucks which are adapted to apply caps tocontainers presented thereto in properly timed relation. In effectingthe feedof the containers to the chucks of the rotary turret,xitis knownto employ devices associated with the main feed-in conveyor which areeffective to cause the formation of a solid line of containers behindsuch timing device and to permit each successively presented leadingcontainer of the solid line of containers to be moved into engagementwith a capping chuck. It is obvious that these timing devices must beoperated in perfect synchronization with the rotation of the cappingturret in order that containers may be properly registered therewith,and that the timing devices must also be operated at an effective linearspeed somewhat less than the linear speed of the feed-in conveyor.

Prior known forms of timing devices which have been designed to performthis function include the ordinary star wheel which normally comprisesmerely a rotatable disk provided with a plurality ofradially disposed;pockets, each of which is so shaped and sized as to closely em-l brace acontainer which is to be projected into engagement with the cappingelements. This solid type of star wheel has proven to be unsatisfactoryfor use in conjunction with certain types of containers for severalreasons. It has been observed that whenevera solid type of star wheel isemployed in controlling the feed of containers having elongatedrectangular cross sections, the containers are apt to be mishandledor-damaged. This is particularly, true in those instances wherelithographed or similarly finished containers are fed between the guiderails of the feed-in conveyor with the greater dimension extendingparallel with the axis of the conveyor. In such cases, it has been foundthat the container controlling forces exerted by the solid type starwheel are initially applied to the corners of the containers at arathersharp angle with respect to the path of travel. This results in thejamming or pressing of one corner of the container against the back railof the conveyor guide rails and tends to cause the entire container toassume a canted position on the conveyor. Such [action further resultsin an increase of the force requiredto properlycontrol the containersince the frictional drag against the guide rails is obviouslyincreased. It is also quite likely that the increased frictional dragbetween the container and the guide rails will remove or mar portions ofthe external finish of the containers and thus render the sameunsuitable for retail merchandising.

A container feed timingdevice constructed in accordance with thisinvention overcomes the difiiculties heretofore presented in connectionwith the use of certain prior known forms of timing wheels throughtheprovision of a timing wheel having a plurality of radially disposedcontainer engaging fingers which are radially movablefduring the time inwhich they are actively engaged with the containers so that the ends ofthe f ngers assume nearly a straightline path of travel and therebysubstantially avoid the application of oif-line forces to thecontainers, v

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a timingwh'eelfor use in conjunction with the main feed of a container capping machineor the like which is capable of effectively and uniformly controllingthe feed of containers presented thereto. A

It is another object of this invention to provide a device of-thecharacter stated which includes a. plurality of generally radiallydisposed ,fingers movablysupported upon a rotary disk for radialmovement relative thereto.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of. thecharacter stated in which the radially extending fingersnormally projectsubstantially'beyond the periphery of the disk'upon which theyvaremounted andin which means are provided for progressively retracting eachof said fingers as-itis brought into overlapping relation with respecttothe feed conveyor and to then project each finger to its normallyextended position as itceases to overlap the feed conveyor whereby theend portion of each such finger will follow a substantially straightline path of travel duringthe time it overlaps the feed conveyor.

Anotherobject of this invention is to provide a devic'eof the characterstated in which the fingers are cam projected and spring retracted.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the characterstated which includes means for varying the time at which the projectiveandretractive movements of the fingers relative to the disk may beeffected. l

Another object of this invention is to provide a devicelof the characterstated which is simple a timing device constructed in accordance withthis invention is associated;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the timing wheel" per se and illustratesthe relative position thereof with respect to the feed conveyor of the'assov ciated capping machine; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertica Y section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the inven- 7 tion as illustrated isembodied in a container capping machine including a main supportingframe A, a rotary capping assembly generally indicated at B,intermediate transfer means C and a main or feed-in conveyor D includingthe usual guide rails and adapted to move and support a line ofcontainers E. c 7

A timing wheel 5 is carried adjacentthe'icon- 'veyor D through themedium of a mounting bracket generally indicated at 6 and is adapted tobe driven from the intermediate :transfer means C through drivingconnections generally indicated at "I. It should be noted that themounting bracket and the driving connections are not herein illustratedin detail but are fully illustrated anddescribed in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 388,947, filed April 17,.1941, now Patent No.2,304,905Qissued December 15, 1942. vThe driven mechanisms include avertically disposed shaft 8 journalled in the mounting bracket 6 andhaving its upper end projecting thereabove. A disk 9 having a dependinghub I is rigidly affixed to the projecting portion of the shaft 8 forrotation therewith. The upper face of the disk is providedwith aplurality of radially disposed slots adapted to slidably receive aplurality of container engaging fingers II. The Outer ends of thefingers are provided with double concave nose portions I2' which extendupwardly abovethe top face of the disk 9 to thereby provide inwardlydisposed abutment or cam faces I3. A disk cam I4 having a cam face I isfreely carried by the shaft 8 and overlies the rotary disk 9 and thefingers I- I associated therewith so that the abutment faces I3 of thefingers are disposed in opposed relation to the cam face I5. Theunderside of the disk cam I4 isprovided with an annular groove I6. Eachfinger i I is provided with an upstanding stud I'I locatedintermediateits ends. ,An endless coil spring I8 encircles the stud I1 andconstantly tends to retract the fingers towards the center of the disk 9thereby maintaining the abutment'faces I3 of the fingers in contact withthe cam face I5. Itshould be noted that the stud I1 and the associatedcoil spring I8 are collectively received by the groove IB of the diskcam. Thecam face I5 isprovided with a fiattened portion or low area I9which is effective 'to permit a movement of retraction of each fingerfollowed by'a movement of projection thereof back to the normal fullyprojected position. It is obvious that in order to effect the radialmovement of the fingers in'this manner the disk cam IAmust be maintainedstationary, and the disk 9 and its associated fingers rotated relativethereto. 'To this end, a link has one end pivotally connected to thedisk cam I4 as by a bolt 2I and its other end connected to suitableposition varying means (not shown) which may be any conventionalstructure for adjustably supporting the end of a member. Normally, thedisk cam I4 is positioned with the low portion I9 f the cam facedisposed symmetrically with respect to the normal extending from theaxis of the conveyor D as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings in order thatthe straight line movement of the noses I2 of the fingers will besubstantially parallel to the path of travel of the containers.Obviously this may be varied by changing the contour of the low portionI9 of the cam face or by varying the position of the disk cam as a wholethrough the link 23.

In operation the main feed conveyor D advances a line of containers forpresentation to the intermediate transfer devices C of the cappingmachine. As the leading container approaches the timing wheel assembly5, one edge will be engaged by the nose portion I2 of a finger II. Atthis time the abutment I3 of the finger I I is approaching the fiatportion I9 of the cam face and thereupon begins its retractive movementtowards the center of the disk 9 under the influence of the spring I8.This retractive movement continues/until the lowest point of the camfaceportion I9 is reached and is then followed by a-movement ofprojection until its fully projected position is again reached. Theeffect of this movementof retraction followed by the movement ofprojection is to cause the nose portion I2 of the finger to follow asubstantially straight line path of travel during the time the'noseportion is actively engaged with the container. Thus; the. forcesexerted by the finger are transmitted to the container in directionswhich are substantially parallel to the path of travel of-the containerand consequently, any tendency towards canting of the container out ofparallelism with the axis of the conveyor and any tendency of thecontainer to heavily engage the guide rails of the conveyor isminimized. In the operation of the timing wheel constructed inaccordance with this invention, it should be noted that the speedsbetween the timing wheel and the feed-in conveyor D maybe variouslyrelated. Thus, in certain types of installations the conveyor D may beoperated at a linear speed greater than the peripheral speed of thetiming wheel. In such instances the nose portions I2 of the fingers willfirst engage the leading edge of each successively presented leadingcontainer and thus retard the speed thereof and effect the formation ofa solid line of containers behind the leading container. Continuedrotation of the timing wheel will bring the nose portion I2 of the nextsucceeding finger into engagement with the trailing edge ofthe leadingcontainer thus effecting the insertion of such succeeding nose portionbetween the leading container and the next succeeding container.Obviously, after the first engaged finger has become disengaged from theleading edge of the container, the container will be free to reassumethe speed of the conveyor and will consequently become properly spacedfrom the following container. In the instances where the linear speed ofthe conveyor D is less than the peripheral speed of the timing wheel,the nose portion I2 of a finger will first engage the trailing edge ofthe leading container and will impel the container along the conveyorupon which it is supported to thereby spacethe leading container fromthe next succeeding containerin the proper 2,332,791 ,rn'anner;Continued rotation of" the timing wheel will cause the nose portion ofthe next succeeding finger toengage the trailing edge of the nextsucceeding container to thus effect its proper spacing from the line ofcontainers following therebehind. Thus, it is obvious-that a timingwheel constructed in accordance with this invention is not dependentupon any fixed speed relation with respect to the feed-in conveyor' butis effoctive to properly space the con-- tainers of a line of containersthrough relatively wide ranges of feed operation.

Thus-it will 'beseen that the herein disclosed invention provides anovel container feed timing wheel having a plurality of radiallydisposed container engaging fingers which are radially movable duringthe time in which they are actively engaged with the containers so thatthe ends of the fingers assume nearly a straight line path of travel tothereby substantially avoid the application of off-line forces to thecontainers in which the fingers are cam projected and spring retractedand which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical tomanufacture.

It is of course to be understood that certain details of arrangement andproportions of parts may be variously modified without exceeding thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Container handling apparatus comprising a conveyor driven at apredetermined linear speed and frictionally. engaging a series ofcontainers to tend to advance said containers at the linear speedof saidconveyor, timing means including a timing wheel having a plurality ofradially extending radially movable fingers mounted thereon andprojectible into the path of said containers in a position intermediatethe ends of said conveyor, means for rotating said timing wheel so thatthe efiective peripheral speed of said fingers is less than the linearspeed of said conveyor whereby to cause said containers to form a solidline and to permit the advancement of each successively presentedleading container in said solid line at the linear speed of saidconveyor while retarding the remaining containers to thereby bring saidcontainers into predetermined spaced relationship upon said conveyor andmeans for moving said fingers radially of said timing wheel.

2. Container handling apparatus comprising a conveyor driven at apredetermined linear speed and frictionally engaging a series ofcontainers to tend to advance said containers in a straight line path oftravel at the linear speed of said conveyor, timing means including atiming wheel having a plurality of radially extending radially movablefingers mounted thereon and projectible into the path of said containersin a position intermediate the ends of said conveyor, means for rotatingsaid timing wheel so that the eiTective peripheral speed of said fingersis less than the linear speed of said conveyor whereby to cause saidcontainers to form a solid line and to permit the advancement of eachsuccessively presented leading container in the said solid line at thelinear speed of said conveyor while retarding the remaining containersto thereby bring said containers into predetermined spaced relationshipupon said conveyor, and means for causing the ends of said fingers toassume nearly a straight line path of travel during the time they areprojected into the path of said containers.

3-. Container hand-ling apparatus comprising a conveyor driven at apredetermined linear speed and frictionally engaging a series of.containers to tendto advance said containers ina straight line path oftravel at thelinearspeed of saidconv eyer, timing means including atiming wheel having a plurality of radially extending radially movablefingers mounted thereon and projectiblointo the path of said containersin'a position intermediate the ends of said conveyer; means for rotatingsaid timing wheel so that the eiioctive peripheral speedof said fingersis less than the linear speed of said" conveyor whereby to cause saidcontainers to form a solid line and to permit the advancement of eachsuccessively presented leading container in said solid line at thelinear speed of said conveyor while retarding the remaining containersto thereby bring said containers into predetermined spaced relationshipupon said conveyor, means effective to maintain said fingers at theoutermost limit of radial movement during a portion of each revolutionof said wheel and to permit a radial retractive movement of each fingerduring a portion of each revolution of said wheel, and means forradially retracting each finger when permitted by said positionmaintaining means whereby the ends of said fingers will be caused toassume nearly a straight line path of travel during the time they areprojected into the path of said containers.

4. In a container handling apparatus, the

combination of: means for advancing a series of containers; and meansfor bringing said containers into predetermined spaced relationshipWhile continuing to be advanced by said advancingmoans comprising, atiming wheel having a plurality of radially extending radially movablefingers mounted thereon and projoctible into the path of saidcontainers, means for rotating said timing wheel so that the efiectiveperipheral speed of said fingers is less than the linear speed of saidadvancing means whereby to cause said containers to form a solid lineand to release each successively presented loading container in saidsolid line for advancement at the linear speed of said advancing meanswhile retarding the remaining containers and means for moving saidfingers radially of said timing wheel.

5. In a container handling apparatus, the combination of means foradvancing a series of containers in a straight line path of travel; andmeans for bringing said containers into predetermined spacedrelationship while continuing to be advanced by said advancing meanscomprising, a timing wheel having a plurality of radially extendingradially movable fingers mounted thereon and projectible into the pathof said containers, means for rotating said timing wheel so that theeifective peripheral speed of said fingers is less than the linear speedof said advancing means whereby to cause said containers to form a solidline and to release each successively presented leading container insaid solid line for advancement at the linear speed of said advancingmeans while retarding the remaining containers, and means for causingthe ends of said fingers to assume nearly a straight line path of travelduring the time they are projected into the path of said containers.

6. In a container handling apparatus, the combination of: means foradvancing a series of containers in a straight line path of travel; andmeans for bringing said containers into predeterminedspaced relationshipwhile continuing to be advanced by said advancing means comprising, atiming wheel having a plurality of radially extending radially movablefingers mounted thereon and projectible into the path of saidcontainers, means for rotating said timing wheel so that the efiectiveperipheral speed of said fingers is less than the linear speed of saidadvancing means whereby to cause said containers to form a solid lineand to release each successively presented leading container in saidsolid line for advancement at the linear speed of saidadvancing meanswhile retarding the remaining containers, means effective to maintainnearly a straight line path of travel during the time they are projectedinto the path of said containers.

HOWARD E. GANTZER.

